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The Final Destination è un film horror, sequel della trilogia di Final Destination, diretto da David R. Ellis.
Il film, disponibile anche in 3D, è stato proiettato nelle sale americane il 28 agosto 2009.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Thriller | Horror | David R. Ellis,Bobby Campo | Shantel Vansanten | Haley Webb

Esta semana Victor ha acudido a ver una de las películas que más tiempo ha estado este otoño en cartel aquí en los Estados Unidos, por lo menos en la costa este, donde un servidor reside. Ha estado casi un mes y medio, y ha desbancado a la pobre Carriers (Aka Infectados) por estos lares. Quiero llamar vuestra atención sobre un dato, ¿no os habéis fijado que la mayoría de las franquicias de género poseen una de sus partes en 3D? Desde Kruger, pasando por Tiburones, y acabando con Halloweenes. Es curioso. En fin, una semana más os dejo con Victor Guybrush que es la firma invitada y sus retinas ensangrentadas han visto “DESTINO FINAL 3D“. A la batuta de la orquesta David R. Ellis que puede jactarse de tener en su currículo el haber dirigido ese pedazo de película que es “Serpientes en el avión“ ¡Qué gran largometraje! Todo un clásico de la serie B contemporanea a rescatar. En la que Julianna Margulies y Samuel L. Jackson hacían una encomiable labor artística. Y espero que nadie se tome a coña el comentario que acabo de realizar. Lo digo totalmente en serio. Escribe la historia Eric Bress, basándose en los personajes creados por Jeffrey Reddick. Bress puede decir alto y claro que suya fue “El efecto mariposa”. Así que presentados todos y situados ya, podemos ir al grano.

Mientras disfruta de una carrera de la Nascar en compañía de su novia y sus amigos, Nick O’Bannon tiene una premonición: un terrible accidente tendrá lugar en el circuito llevándose por delante la vida de decenas de persona, incluida la suya y las de sus amigos. El bueno de Nick, anticipándose a la catástrofe, logra arrastrar a un grupo de asistentes al evento fuera del recinto del circuito poniéndolos a salvo, pero es solo el principio del fin: uno a uno, más temprano que tarde, La Muerte les va a dar caza.

Si hacemos caso al dicho y concedemos que “segundas partes nunca fueron” ¿qué vamos a esperar de las cuartas partes aun cuando son en tres dimensiones? Destino final 3D ni siquiera  llega a ser más de lo mismo que sus predecesoras. Lejos queda ya la angustiosa escena del accidente de tráfico masivo de la segunda parte; esta vez la rocambolesca actuación de La Muerte apenas llega al gore light de las anteriores películas, y las imágenes explícitas de muertes, que predominaba en anteriores entregas, desaparece casi en su totalidad, y para rematar apenas hay escenas angustiosas.

El 3D, el gran atractivo y reclamo de la película, tampoco se salva de la quema. Unas cuantas cosas saltan a la cara del público, o aparecen de pronto desde un lateral, pero en realidad las tres dimensiones se quedan bastante cortas para lo que se supone que debería ser una revolución del cine. Y aun así, en comparación con otros elementos de la película, es de lo más digno.

Porque ¿qué guión se puede esperar de un producto como este? Sí, eso es: uno bastante pobre. La historia es anodina, las muertes muy poco imaginativas e incluso ya vistas; no hay suspense, tensión o mal rollo en general, e incluso cuando parece que la cinta va a dar un giro hacia el humor y la auto-parodia da la impresión de que los guionistas se acojonan y no aprovechan ese camino que podría haber convertido la cinta en una interesante experiencia irreverente y pasada de vueltas.

Los actores no son nada del otro mundo pero al menos cumplen su función de no molestar y morir cuando deben. Mención especial para Mykelti Williamson, curtido en mil batallas y conocido sobre todo por su papel como Bubba en Forrest Gump. Algunos personajes, como el del racista sureño que se emborracha y escucha heavy metal, podrían haber dado mucho juego, pero quedan desaprovechados en favor de los anodinos protagonistas, unos chavales muy guapos pero planos y sin gracia. El intento más potente de dar relieve a los personajes está en nuestro amigo Williamson y su alcoholismo, pero se queda en una anécdota.

Destacables son, por sacar algo positivo del film, las referencias, conscientes o inconscientes, que aparecen durante todo el metraje: las tres anteriores cintas de la saga tienen un sitio privilegiado en el corazón de ésta, lógicamente, pero además resulta curioso ver homenajes a, por ejemplo, una escena de Resident Evil (que, al mismo tiempo, homenajeaba una escena de Cube) y un relato (asqueroso y recomendadísimo para pasarlo mal) de Chuck Palahniuk llamado “Entrañas”. El final de esta película es una de las más curiosas coincidencias cinematográficas que os podéis echar a la cara ahora mismo. Seguro que Tarantino aplaudió al verlo.

En definitiva, “ni chicha ni limoná”. Si los seguidores de la franquicia van a colmar sus expectativas, ni los que busquen gore encontrarán aquí algo que les satisfaga, no digamos ya cualquier otro tipo de espectador.

EL DESTINO FINAL 3D (estreno  30 de octubre)

Género: Terros-Thriller
Producción: EEUU
Director: David R. Ellis
Intérpretes: Bobby Campo y Shantel Van Santen

Sinopsis:  En el que debería haber sido un divertido día en las carreras, Nick O’Bannon (Bobby Campo) tiene una horrible premonición en la que una extraña secuencia de acontecimientos provoca múltiples accidentes de automóviles en la carrera, enviando escombros llenos de llamas a las gradas, matando brutalmente a sus amigos y haciendo que la parte superior de las gradas se derrumbe sobre él. Cuando sale de esta pesadilla, Nick entra en pánico e intenta persuadir a su novia, Lori (Shantel VanSanten) y a sus amigos, Janet (Haley Webb) y Hunt (Nick Zano), de que tienen que irse rápido…y escapan segundos antes de que la aterradora visión de Nick se convierta en una terrible realidad. Pensando en que han logrado engañar a la muerte, el grupo tiene una nueva oportunidad de vivir, pero lamentablemente para Nick y para Lori, ese es sólo el comienzo. Continúan sus premoniciones y los supervivientes del accidente comienzan a morir uno a uno, de maneras cada vez más pavorosas. Nick debe encontrar una manera de escapar de la muerte de una vez por todas antes de que él, también, alcance su Destino final. Más información.

Un film del 2009, regia di David R. Ellis, con Bobby Campo / Shantel VanSanten / Haley Webb / Nick Zano. Prodotto da Warner Bros (82min)

Horror / Thriller

In seguito a una premonizione che visualizza uno spaventoso incidente causato da una macchina da corsa, Nick O’Bannon riesce a salvare la la propria vita, quella della sua ragazza Lori e dei suoi amici Janet e Hunt. I quattro sembrano averla scampata, ma riusciranno veramente a sfuggire alla Morte?

Crítica de Cinema – Texto publicado originalmente em A ARCA, em 27/10/2004.

Quatro minutos. Quando as luzes da sala de projeção se apagam e os créditos de Celular – Um Grito de Socorro (Cellular, 2004) rolam pela tela, quatro minutos é o tempo que o espectador tem para respirar até que a pancadaria comece a rolar solta – aliás, se o som da sala de cinema estiver no talo, prepare-se para levar um belo de um susto. A partir daí, não há mais descanso: durante os 94 minutos de duração da fita, o diretor David R. Ellis (deixando pra trás os seus dias ruins de Premonição 2) conduz uma trama que, apesar de ter uma linha de início bem simples, reserva algumas surpresas bem legais em seu decorrer. E o que é melhor: o ritmo acelerado do início permanece até o último minuto. O elenco afinado e o roteiro bem construído (cortesia do novato Chris Morgan a partir de uma história de Larry Cohen, do muito bom Por Um Fio) não deixam a peteca cair em momento algum.

Nos quatro tranqüilos minutos iniciais, a professora de biologia Jessica Martin (Kim Basinger, a belíssima atriz oscarizada por Los Angeles: Cidade Proibida) leva o filho até o ônibus escolar e volta para sua casa de classe média-alta. Ao final destes quatro minutos, numa quebra de ritmo surpreendente, Jessica é brutalmente seqüestrada por três homens armados que invadem sua casa e ainda matam a empregada. A atônita Jessica, praticamente em estado de choque, é levada para uma casa em local desconhecido, trancafiada no sótão e ainda vê o único telefone do lugar ser destruído a golpes de marreta pelo líder do grupo, o perigoso Greer (Jason Statham, colaborador de Guy Ritchie em filmes como Snatch e Jogos, Trapaças e Dois Canos Fumegantes). Jessica, que não faz a menor idéia do porquê de estar naquela situação, toma em suas mãos o que sobrou do telefone e emenda alguns fios.

Um corte de câmera e somos levados a um parque de diversões em um píer. O imaturo e despreocupado Ryan (Chris Evans, que poderá ser visto em breve como o Tocha Humana do duvidoso longa do Quarteto Fantástico) chora no ombro do amigo Chad (Eric Christian Olsen) as agruras de ter sido chutado pela namorada (Jessica Biel). Seu celular toca. Do outro lado da linha, uma mulher com voz assustada se identifica como Jessica Martin e pede ajuda. Sem nunca ter tido contato algum com aquela mulher, o rapaz a início duvida de Jessica, mas logo se convence da verdade depois de testemunhar, via telefone, uma ameaça de morte sofrida por ela. Num acesso de heroísmo e integridade, Ryan percebe que é o único que poderá impedir Jessica e sua família de ser dizimada, e corre numa luta desesperada para descobrir o que está acontecendo. Se a ligação cair, Jessica pode dar adeus à vida.

E é isso. Claro que o roteiro não pára por aí, afinal até aqui se foram apenas 15 minutos de filme. A questão é que se torna praticamente impossível comentar algo mais sobre o enredo sem destruir o prazer que é assistir Celular. Assim como todo filme policial, há uma subtrama que é revelada aos poucos – no caso, a razão de Jessica estar presa no sótão -, há os personagens paralelos aparentemente sem conexão e que se mostram vitais para a conclusão da história, como os policiais Jack Tanner (Noah Emmerich, de O Show de Truman) e Mooney (William H. Macy, de Magnólia, excepcional como sempre), e há todas aquelas cenas eletrizantes que compõem qualquer longa-metragem de ação. A diferença é que aqui, estes clichês tão batidos funcionam que é uma beleza e nem parecem estereótipos. O que se pode dizer sem estragar é que tudo o que é mostrado na telona não está ali por acaso e tem conexão com a conclusão da trama.

Um dos maiores trunfos de Celular é justamente o que poderia ser o seu pior defeito: a trama tem todos os clichês básicos do gênero, mas a mão firme de David R. Ellis na direção faz toda a diferença. Não há situações muito forçadas: só pra citar um exemplo, o celular de Ryan quase fica sem sinal por várias vezes e, numa das cenas mais legais do filme, a bateria quase descarrega, forçando o cara a tomar uma atitude no mínimo inusitada. As atuações são bem firmes e sinceras, em particular Kim Basinger, que dá um belo repeteco nas gritarias de sua personagem no Batman de Tim Burton, e William H. Macy, que cativa a platéia de imediato como o honesto policial Mooney, que só quer se aposentar e montar um salão de beleza com a esposa (“Não é um salão de beleza! É um spa de um dia!”).

Mas o verdadeiro centro das atenções, por incrível que pareça, é Chris Evans. O ator, até então um semi-desconhecido que só obteve destaque na telona na “tentativa de filme” Não é Mais um Besteirol Americano, mostra ter um gás impressionante para cenas de ação e não desaponta quando o assunto é interpretar. Desde já, uma escolha muito boa para o Tocha Humana. Mas neste caso aí, o problema não será ele e sim, o filme! Hehehe…

Ao final, Celular não mudará a vida de ninguém, mas é um excelente passatempo, recheado de ação, atuações convincentes e um roteiro que não ofende a inteligência do espectador, além de lançar no ar uma pergunta bem difícil de responder: até que ponto você iria pra salvar a vida de uma pessoa que você não conhece? O que você seria capaz de fazer para defender o que é certo, independente de isto dizer respeito a você ou não? Pois é, se todos os longas fossem assim, o mundo seria bem mais mundo… Por isso, pode ir assistir sem medo, numa boa. Só vê se desliga o celular na hora do filme, pô!

CURIOSIDADES:

• O roteirista Larry Cohen, que é creditado como autor de enredo, na verdade é o autor também do roteiro final. Ele trabalhou no roteiro de Celular com intenção de rodá-lo logo após a conclusão de seu trabalho anterior, Por Um Fio. Cohen desistiu da idéia e pediu ao diretor David R. Ellis para não creditá-lo como roteirista oficial deste novo filme depois de notar as muitas semelhanças entre Celular e Por Um Fio.

• Durante a projeção de Celular, inúmeras referências ao estúdio New Line, responsável pela produção do filme, surgem na tela. Em determinada cena, por exemplo, uma televisão exibe um trecho de Premonição 2, do mesmo diretor deste. Um dos personagens possui uma mochila de O Senhor dos Anéis: A Sociedade do Anel. Além disso, o grandão da New Line, Robert Shave, faz várias pontas aleatórias.

CELLULAR • EUA • 2004
Direção de David R. Ellis • Roteiro de Chris Morgan
Elenco: Kim Basinger, Chris Evans, William H. Macy, Jason Stathan, Eric Christian Olsen, Jessica Biel e Noah Emmerich.
94 min. • Distribuição: New Line Cinema/PlayArte.

A horror movie – in glorious 3D – about crash escapees being hounded by evil forces. Images hit knew heights of gruesomeness.

With: Shantel VanSanten, Bobby Campo, Haley Webb, Nick Zano, David R. Ellis, Eric Bress, Jeffrey Reddick

(Note, This is one of my earlier pieces) I went to see the 4th installment in this long running teen horror series, The Final Destination (In 3D nonetheless), directed by David. R. Ellis and Starring Bobby Campo and Shantel VanSanten. This movie follows almost the exact same plot as the others in the series, A group of teenagers are having a day out, but one has a premonition (vision) of the group getting slaughtered in an accidental, yet violent looking way, the protagonist then leads them out and Death picks them off in the exact order they died if the incident at the start were to take place, overall, it was a good plot the first two times, now it’s just getting old.
This movie follows Nick, a 19-20 something man with his girlfriend Lori (VanSanten), his best friend Hunt (Nick Zano) and Janet (Haley Webb) having a relaxing day out at the local NASCAR track, things are looking promising for Nick, He has a loving girlfriend, two great friends and a clear future, that’s all about to change when Death* decides to intervene in the event by making one of the pitstop engineers forget their screwdriver in the car’s exhaust, this makes the screwdriver lay on the middle of the track and a car comes along in spectacular fashion due to the digital 3D and then it’s tires pop, the car goes flying into the crowd with some spectacular stunt choreography and people (including Nick and his friends) die, this is not a spoiler however, this is just a vision that Nick has, and then He kicks and screams his way out of the Stadium, followed by a group of angry fans….then…guess what? The crash happens. thats all i’m gonna say about the films events for now.

The Pros
This series has come quite far with 3 sequels and it has been running for 10 years! But this isn’t very uncommon with most famous horror franchises running for nearly 10 sequels! See Friday the 13th and Nightmare On Elm Street movies and you’ll see what I mean.
Also, the kill scenes remain spectacular as ever, with blood and guts spraying everywhere and fun, happy things like that, most of these scenes involve normal, everyday items/occurences including a rock and a lawnmower, go figure for yourself, if you guess right, i’ll give you a virtual cookie.

The Cons
Now, where shall I begin….Now you’ll say, Dylan you amazing man, you’ve been praising this movie, it may seem like that but those things are just a given for any FD movie, the acting in this movie is a complete catastrophe here with actors overly emphasise the swear words, which in my opinion, is just too much at times.
The Actors in this movie a very unknown to the general casual movie audience, but again, this again is a given to horror movies as of late. The Actors aren’t great, like…at all, Nick Zano, who portrays Hunt in the movie, is just a stereotypical muscle man who just wants sex and things like that, but their lines are choppy and weak, especially when Nick is trying to explain about his vision, he says “i saw, this thing, ugh” and when asked about who died after a certain character, he just says without thought or pause, “I can’t remember”

The Camerawork
Now, this is the category i can’t say much about, as I saw it in 3D, the 3D was spectacular, it’s just that, they never did anything amazing with it, i mean, all you usually got was the odd blood splatter or flying projectile coming out of the screen.

The Verdict
Straight up, I’m gonna say that this movie was awful (remember, this is my own opinion)
But remember guys, i’m not saying don’t watch this movie, by all means, go see it, it is hugely entertaining for short term thrills and chills, I was laughing my ass off in my seat
my score for The Final Destination is 2.4 stars
*Death in this movie has no physical manifestation, just moving objects and forces of nature, so don’t expect Death to come around the corner and pull out a pistol

Death continues it’s journey in the latest Final Destination flick. A teen has a premonition of his own and his friends death at a race track and convinces them to leave. Now the people who survived are dying one by one in the order they should have been killed in the first place.

Directed by – David R. Ellis

Written by – Eric Bress, Jeffrey Reddick

Starring – Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten, Nick Zano, Haley Webb, Mykelti Williamson, Krista Allen, Andrew Fiscella, Justin Welborn, Stephanie Honore, Lara Grice, Jackson Walker, Phil Austin

Well, it’s another entry in the Final Destination series and the one thing I’ve always enjoyed about these movies is the death scenes. There always so creative and fun to watch. Unfortunately this last one doesn’t seem to have the right stuff to measure up to the previous films. I often wonder if these 3D horror flicks are losing out in certain aspects by trying to play up the 3D part too much. If they didn’t spend so much time worrying about what’s sticking out in the audiences face, would the movie have been better? I think it’s safe to say that with Final Destination it wouldn’t have mattered. They aren’t spectacular but there’s a certain fun that can be had with them.

While they’re not breaking any new ground in this installment, what they do have is a good popcorn eating horror flick for that teen crowd. I always get some enjoyment out of how these flicks end though. It’s always bad for everyone involved and that brings a sick smile to my face every time!

Never drink and tow, it never works out right.

While there is still some fun to be had with this one, it lacked the over the top deaths that I’ve looked forward to in all these movies, including the opening premonition. My favorite, from which flick I can’t remember now, was the car crash scene. Think it was the second….whatever. Cars flying everywhere, giant logs, explosions! That’s what I was hoping for but the opening scene here was pretty quick and lame. Mostly people getting squished by falling concrete. Sure the flying car tire was cool but wasn’t that in the trailer?

One of the more impressive deaths and another reason to fear escalators!

If you’ve seen the other Final Destination movies then you know what you’re in for. It’s really hard for me to even tell them apart anymore. Regardless of that, they’re still fun to watch. It’s just that this one was a little less fun than the others. I hope if they continue to make them, they ramp up the body counts and really go over the top. It may bring that sick fun back into them.

Under the marquee – Will

Comes Prematurely

Shinedown’s “Devour” on the Bar None’s Juice-Box:

[Click here for a guide to Booze Revooze and the rating system used]

Ramblings: The Final Destination Doesn’t Go Anywhere

i made two mistakes with this movie. 1) i saw it sober, 2) i didn’t see it in 3D. i hate seeing 3D movies in 2D. There are all these special effects like pointy knives and blood splatter that are supposed to freak out a 3D audience but fall flat on us 2 dimensional spectators.

The reason i shoulda got drunk before is because The Final Destination (aka, Final Destination 4) is a one dimensional draft of the last three servings. Every time they take a strong brew and try to serve it up again it just gets more and more watered down–to the point you can’t get drunk and just have to pee a lot and you’d love to grab the bartender by his weeny bow tie and force him to lap up all the diluted slop he’s been pouring all night but you can’t because you have to keep getting up and going to the can. God, i hate that. Just like i hate this movie.

Final Proof: 1 shot (Piss)

Buzz Kills (Watch Out for Spoilers)

Sex: 2 Shots (A Little Weak)

Shantel VanSanten has a too-short scene in pajamas that consist of a tight, spaghetti strap top and panties. Very cute, especially for those of us who think that more than a mouthful is a waste (i’m talking about boobs here, people, not booze).

A Mouthful

On top of that, literally, there’s the token titty scene of a girl with her large rack (here’s where you want 3D) bouncing on a guy, cowgirl style. The actress (Gabrielle Chapin) is so much better than the rest of the movie and is credited as ‘Girl On Top’. (i kid you not, check out imdb if you don’t believe me.) Someone of her natural charm deserves a more appropriate description; i’m thinking “Sweet & Sexy Girl On Top” or “Charming and Talented Girl On Top”.

Drinks: 1 Shot (Piss)

Once scene has a guy at a sporting event sipping whiskey out of a flask designed as binoculars.

“Is that Jack?”

“Nope, his friend Jim.”

One of the characters killed his wife and kid while driving drunk (‘cept it’s backstory and we don’t get to see it). During the movie he resists the urge to take up the bottle again, though he does toast with apple juice champagne. Woo hoo.

Another guy drunk drives his pickup and constantly swigs out of a 40. Acting drunk is tough and this guy screws the hooch because he basically empties the can by throwing his arm around like a spastic on ice. Real drinkers may drop a glass now and then, we’ve been known to slosh a little when we move, but none of us spill beer through the top of the can repeatedly. Also, he sobers up too quickly but then again maybe that happens when you’re on fire and being dragged behind a truck. i wouldn’t know.

Rock and Roll: 3 ½ (Kinda Strong Stuff)

The only part of the movie that wasn’t empty. Music includes a lot of decent metal, including “Devour” by Shinedown.

Boring Technical Crap

The Final Destination (Final Destination 4)

Directed by David R Ellis

Written by Eric Bress (story) & Jeffrey Reddick (characters)

Starring Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSaten

Name :Final Destination 4

Director: David R Ellis

Lead Artist:   Bobby Compo (Nick O’Bannon )

Shantel VanSanten ( Lori Milligan)

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Story Line:  On what should have been a fun-filled day at the races, Nick O’Bannon has a horrific premonition in which a bizarre sequence of events causes multiple race cars to crash, sending flaming debris into the stands, brutally killing his friends and causing the upper deck of the stands to collapse on him. When he comes out of this grisly nightmare Nick panics, persuading his girlfriend, Lori, and their friends, Janet and Hunt, to leave…escaping seconds before Nick’s frightening vision becomes a terrible reality. Thinking they’ve cheated death, the group has a new lease on life, but unfortunately for Nick and Lori, it is only the beginning. As his premonitions continue and the crash survivors begin to die one-by-one–in increasingly gruesome ways–Nick must figure out how to cheat death once and for all before he, too, reaches his final destination.

Like the previous films in these series the film is filled with suspense (Those who have seen the previous ones can predict what will happen only how it will happen is really a suspense) . The has lots of accidental killings that will not occur in our wildest dreams . To add more to it its 3D. But it does lack the suspense and thrill the previous one offered. But it all the stuff to keep you fingers closed through out the one and half hour. It is Box Offices Top even in its 2nd week.

Rating:  4 stars

o star- Never see it

1 star- yawning

2 star- poor

3 star- can hold on

4 star- good

5 star- must see

I’m a sucker for a 3-D horror movie and I’ve had a soft spot for the FINAL DESTINATION series since the first one, back in 2000. In my opinion, it is the only “original” slasher franchise that exists in this era known as the 00’s, or the naughts, or whatever you want to call this freakish decade we’re in. You can make an argument that the SAW movies are too and I would agree that they are a variation of the genre to a certain degree, but I consider the FINAL DESTINATION movies to be the slasher formula stripped down to it’s bare bones like a rock band from Detroit.

The concept that a group of random people somehow cheat death and are in turn stalked one by one by an invisible grim reaper, who dispatches with the survivors in a series of well executed “accidents”, is brilliant in it’s simplicity. With this set up, there is never a need for a back story or continuing characters and the “killer”, the unstoppable Death, can only be delayed from taking out the survivors in order of when they were supposed to die.

Each FINAL DESTINATION movie exists in a world where around every corner a rope is ready to snap and drop something on you, or a rock could shoot through a lawnmower and into your brain, or a pool drain can suck your guts out if you get stuck in it and so on and so on. Creating a potentially dangerous situation out of everything creates an effective amount of anxiousness while watching these movies. At any moment something could short circuit, break, or fall off a shelf and create a series of domino-like actions that will lead to you being diced up into little meatballs.

THE FINAL DESTINATION is the fourth in the series and the first to be shown in 3-D. It was written by Eric Bress and directed by David R. Ellis, whom are the two men responsible for what is considered to be the best film in the series, FINAL DESTINATION 2. Truthfully, the only thing new here is a different group of victims and a series of new “creative” deaths. What makes this one “stand out” (OH! Nice one!) is the excellent 3-D that is used to send the blood and guts flying into your face. If it wasn’t for that, this movie is just a standard sequel you could probably avoid. At 82 minutes, THE FINAL DESTINATION accomplishes everything it needs to do and provides some cool 3-D thrills, but I wouldn’t see it in 2-D or watch it at home if I were you. 3-D in the theatre is the only way to go with this one.

A redneck stereotype is set ablaze in "The Final Destination".

(David R. Ellis, 2009)

September 2, 2009

by Joel Crary

“The Final Destination” is the most one-dimensional 3-D film I’ve seen. But this is it. This is THE final destination. Those other destinations, the first three, were nowhere near as final. This is the fourth final destination, the one that is absolutely, without doubt, the last and ultimate destination. Its finality is assured.

Hold on a second. The flick has grossed nearly $30 million at the American box office in its opening weekend. Can a destination that pulls in that much dough really be THAT final? There has to be one to come that will be final-er. As long as it keeps making money, that much is certain. Keep those speeding cars coming, those nail guns firing, those beauty and tanning salons going awry. Death will keep finding a way. Cha-ching.

“The Final Destination” is a moronic excuse to show people being killed by bad CGI effects. Little has changed plot-wise from the 2000 original (simply called “Final Destination”, not THE final). A group of friends is nearly killed in a horrific disaster. One friend has a vision of the accident ahead of time and is able to save the others. Death spends the movie stalking them one after the other in the order in which they would have died. Paper-thin jokes and observations about fate are made. I cease giving a damn.

“The Final Destination” provides the added treat of making one of the characters, a redneck stock car fanatic, racist. How original. That’s how we know he’s bad, see? He insults a black security guard and it’s uncalled for. He shows up at the man’s house and aims to burn a cross on his lawn. Wouldn’t you LIKE to watch a guy like that die? Well, you’re in luck. Death gives him a taste of his own derivative medicine.

But the movie’s not done there. Later on it gives us an old and hospitalized war veteran, who incorrectly identifies the Chinese-American orderly as Korean, like the dirty sonsabitches he killed decades ago. Why include this racist dialogue? The veteran has nothing to do with the “plot”, such as it is. A good horror film can weave funny material with the grotesque in order to provide a moment in which we allow our guard down for the next scare. “The Final Destination” has nothing to offer but feeble shock humour and stereotypes.

Take Hunt (Nick Zano), the boneheaded sex-crazed macho pig with the stupid haircut. Take any of these characters, who could give less of a crap about one another than I could about the entire film. Their relationships hinge on the non-existent. They have uninteresting things to say and offer only quick points of insight to advance the plot to the next grisly death sequence. The ending is a joke, thrown together at random without any regard for plausibility.

I use the term “grisly” loosely. No jump tactic works. No torn limb elicits more than an eye-rolling “ew”. The suspense is undercut by the cheapness of the production. You get used to the idea that death will put an end to these people in ways you can’t expect, so the interest one might have in every hint dropped during a scene is a dead end.

And yes, you can see it in 3-D. Rather than watching crap on a two-dimensional surface, you can get it thrown in your face. At one point, the characters go to see a 3-D movie and make lame attempts at self-referential humour. I wanted desperately to crawl into the frame and take a seat in the theatre with them. Whatever they were watching, it had to be above and beyond this swill.

It’s downright depressing that a movie like this does so well financially. It’s void of intelligence and doesn’t know how to be funny. It resorts to cheap scares that aren’t scary. And it’s something no horror film should ever, ever be: Boring as hell. Take your glasses and run.

Cast: Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten, Nick Zano, Haley Webb, and Mykelti Williamson
Director: David R. Ellis
The Verdict: You know the drill: a kid has a premonition of an impending disaster, saves everyone around him/her who listens, but then they all pay the price for cheating death. The Final Destination doesn’t deviate from the formula followed in its three predecessors—except now the blood, guts and gore comes at you in 3-D. Sure, it’s a smart move to go 3-D in order to extend a premise-driven horror franchise well past its sell-by date. Too bad director David R. Ellis—who gave us Final Destination 2 before unleashing Snakes on a Plane—doesn’t know how best to get up close and in our faces. Everything starts off promisingly, with your typical group of anonymous but hot young things barely escaping certain death, this time during an accident at a speedway track. Ellis happily throws anything and everything at us—engines, tires, broken wood beams, concrete debris—to slay as many spectators as possible and to keep us ducking in our seats. So far, so good. Then a pissed-off Death, unseen as usual, decides to kill off those who should never have survived the mayhem (including four buddies and a security guard played by with where’s-my-paycheck? apathy by Forrest Gump’s Mykelti Williamson). At this point, The Final Destination settles into its ho-hum routine of death by cause and effect. Our hero—in case, a wishy-washy Bobby Campo—continues to have visions of each survivor shuffling off this mortal coil, so he takes it upon himself to break the chain of death. Aside from one nail-biting scene set inside a hair salon, Ellis doesn’t treat us to many inspired deaths. To be honest, the survivors die either in lazy or unintentionally hilarious fashion. The best Ellis can come up with is dragging a racist down a street while he’s on fire. And the climax set in a theater showing a 3-D film is too self-consciously executed. Consequently, the post-disaster 3-D effects—from flames reaching out to tickle your nose to nails whizzing past your ears—rarely leave you gasping. That forces you to actually pay attention to the “Get a room!” bad dialogue. Maybe Ellis thought audiences would be happy just to see everything played out in 3-D and decided not to put much thought into concocting original and gripping death scenes. Whatever you want to say about My Bloody Valentine 3-D, at least it tried to freak you out. “Is it safe to sit here?” one nervous Nellie asks during the race. Not where she’s sitting, but where we are, regrettably yes.
Release Date: Aug. 28, 2009
Rating: R
Running Time: 81 minutes

Toute mort, dans la diégèse de la saga Destination Finale, repose sur un enchevêtrement d’éléments qui mènera au décès spectaculaire, effroyable et inéluctable du personnage. Ces quelques scènes essentielles se font toujours désirer, un peu comme les combats d’un film de Bruce Lee. Malheureusement, puisque l’on nous ressert l’exact même canevas depuis 2001, difficile de rendre passionnants les intermèdes qui séparent ces morceaux de bravoure escomptés… Le second épisode fit un choix crucial, celui de concentrer son énergie sur la mécanique fatale : presque aucune intrigue, mais un plaisir inouï à chaque mise à mort. L’inventivité formelle de David R. Ellis apporta considérablement à la réussite de l’excellent Destination Finale 2. Mais c’est plus encore cette vacuité narrative qui rendit l’expérience si viscérale, si intense. Pour l’épisode de trop, celui qui n’a plus rien à raconter et qui cherchera seulement à en mettre plein la vue avec la 3D… c’est donc sans surprise que les producteurs firent de nouveau appel à cette fine équipe.

Le scénariste Eric Bress fait donc son job à moitié, et c’est très bien comme ça. Pour preuve, lorsque l’épilogue ménage un coup de théâtre, celui-ci ne repose sur aucun élément tangible disposé auparavant. Quant au début, il est bâclé (l’accident initial ne vaut rien par rapport à celui de l’autoroute de l’opus 2) et la fin, encore plus. Une scène finale qui a au moins le mérite d’être honnête sur le manque de substance affichée des auteurs : des squelettes, translucides de surcroît, se font briser en mille alors que seule l’hémoglobine garde sa consistance et sa couleur à l’image. Des personnages vides et du sang : la recette gagnante du film est symbolisée par cette image terminale. Mais, entre temps, alors ? Entre temps, quelques sursauts vous feront dire que le paiement pour la location des lunettes n’a pas été aussi justifié depuis longtemps. Il était triste de constater que le passage en 3D le plus réussi de Là-haut était la pub Haribo diffusée juste avant le film. Cette fois-ci, on en a pour son argent !

Coupable d’une inspiration aléatoire, on reprochera toutefois à Eric Bress de s’être abaissé – et c’est une première ! – à une mort-gag expéditive (l’un des « condamnés » meurt de façon abrupte sans que le film n’ait fait monter la sauce comme à l’accoutumée), et aussi de nous refaire le coup de la fausse piste. Dans Destination Finale 2, un gamin s’extirpait in extremis d’un piège terrifiant où l’électrocution et / ou l’étouffement l’attendait à chaque seconde, pour finalement mourir écrabouillé par une plaque de verre alors qu’il cherchait à faire s’envoler des pigeons (oui je sais, c’est génial…). Ici, rebelote : un personnage meurt d’une façon absurde alors que David Ellis s’était évertué à faire monter une pression illusoire (liquide sur le sol, ventilo coupe-tête désolidarisé, etc.). Même quand ils tournent à vide comme ici, ces passages sont toujours efficaces, tétanisants surtout, et quel plaisir de les voir encore rehaussés par les effets du relief. Le spectateur passe chaque séquence à se cacher les yeux. Du bon, donc, mais que du déjà-vu ? Tut-tut. Il y a du neuf dans DF4 : gain de temps et maximisation de la terreur, Ellis met en scène une double-mort en montage parallèle. Un suspense monstre, en apnée (littéralement !), pour la séquence la plus captivante de l’ensemble. Autre nouveauté : la « mort » mise en abyme, lors de la séquence finale. Sans trop en dévoiler, le passage évoque étrangement le grand final d’Inglourious Basterds. Comme Tarantino, ce qu’aime Ellis, c’est exploser les bordures de ses cadres. Alors quand il filme une explosion, il ne faut pas venir se plaindre si l’on sort de la salle avec quelques cheveux cramés…

Hendy Bicaise

> Sortie en salles le 26 août 2009